Leaderboard

The Zips shot well, out-quicked and out- jumped the Flyers taking the crowd out of the game in the first half. In the second half none of that happened, but this team has potential. Add a couple of bigs next year and things could really get interesting.

Duvivier missed a lot of open threes and his made 3 was a bank shot. Most of this 3 pointers were not close. However, I liked the way he plays defense. He keeps his man in front of him and fights off the picks. I still prefer him over any of the guards we had last year based on his physical play. The team is very disciplined on their shot selection except for Ivey. He forced up some shots and shot 4 for 14 including 1 for 5 from 3 point area. HOwever, he led the team with 7 rebounds and had some nice assists. He is not getting many easy shots like last year. He needs to stop pressing and let the game come to him. Poke went 4 for 4 from the field, Mr. offense! However, he only had 2 rebounds. Somebody needs to teach him to box out and use his body to get position for a rebound. He gets pushed around under the boards. Zeke was the same way his first couple of years. Great shot blocker but not very strong on the boards. Utomi had a strong game but did not make any shots when we needed them in the second half. Did anybody else notice we had 2 inbounds plays where we scored easy baskets. I haven't seen that in many years. This team will only get better. Go Zips!!

I noticed that before the end-of-game junk minutes Dayton had their 3 pt% at around 45-46%. That's too high. I have seen this before. This defensive system takes time to gel. Even though Groce plays man-to-man defense, it's still an aggressive team defense. Once the initial defender flys out at his shooter others will rotate and cover until that player gets back into position. Sometimes with this defense you will end up with bad mismatches if the possession goes long enough. Like a small point guard trying to guard a center. But it's about creating constant pressure and playing the odds. They are still a work in progress that's all. Groce will be on them for it.

Announcer: "And yet another difficult shot by Ivey. And if you're Akron I'm not sure that's the shot you're looking for." ?

http://www.uwbadgers.com/news/2017/11/25/mens-soccer-badgers-season-ends-in-heartbreaker-to-no-5-zips.aspx very classy quotes from John Trask.....love his comments about the environment and atmosphere Straight from the Pitch: Head coach John Trask "Congratulations to the University of Akron. It was a great soccer game -- the type of match you expected in the round of 16. A lot of individual ability from both teams. The environment the game was played in was probably the best part of the contest. It was a special game. The field was beautiful; the atmosphere was incredible. I didn't expect anything less. One team had to go down today and unfortunately it was the University of Wisconsin. But I'll take that type of effort out of my guys any day of the week. I think we showed people who we are as team." "Chris is a phenomenal player. He picked up two assists today which makes 20 on the year… that is basically an assist a game. He had a great free kick that caught the underside of the crossbar. Chris is a magical senior who will go on to play at the next level. All of our seniors make up a group that will leave a lasting legacy. I feel like this time there is a new standard for people who are going to represent us. I know the alumni and administration will be proud of the effort we put forth today. Once again, congrats to Akron."

Way to go Zips! I'm just now tuning into the game and DID NOT expect the Zips to have the lead at the half! Boy-oh-boy am I a spoiled Zips fan right now! Go Zips!

Well, after 8 minutes I see two differences with Team Groce. Tenacious defense underneath by the undersized bigs. And no way would Keith have called that time out after Dayton's run. He didn't like calling timeouts during run-of-play.

Salmon Stew!

Freshman Jordon Davis does have 4 years of high school experience.

Bench player is the best role for him? Maybe. But I'd also hate to lose some of the other things he can do out there. In particular, he's tied with Poke for 2nd on the team in rebounds right now. There's just not enough capable people to get things done right now. But, what I would like to see is Ivey taking more like 6-8 field goal attempts per game, and make them quality opportunities. I think that's more in line with what he's able of handling offensively. You can't have a guy taking so many shots (2nd in FG attempts) when he's shooting 24% from the field.

I was only able to check in briefly from time to time on my phone during the game, as I was on the road. But by sheer luck, one of those times was just as OT began, and I got to see the winning goal in real time! A great win for the Zips! On to the round of 8!

That's not like OSUcks 15-14 PK win over Akron a couple years back.

Fordham knocks off Duke on PK'S 8-7

Ivey looks a little lost. He also looks to be pressing on the offensive end. He needs to take a deep breath, focus on defense and let the offense come to him. This team will need a viable third option to be successful and he's that guy.

Really just need more out of Ivey, Parrish, and Duvivier if you want to win a game like this. Or offense from anybody outside of Sayles and Utomi. I'm pretty disappointed with Ivey so far this season. Saw him getting into it with the coaching staff last game and he really hasn't brought much to the table yet. Yes he is dealing with a new system, but so is everyone else. I hope he can get it going.

a fine season for Western Michigan comes to an end with a 2-1 loss at Michigan State N. Carolina 2-0 win over SMU Fordham and Duke 2-2 in the first OT Indiana leads New Hampshire 1-0 at 48 UNC faces fordham-duke winner....I do not want to see an ACC quarter...go Fordham and Michigan state faces the winner of the IU game

He and there other two bigs each have 2 fouls. Keep going inside and that takes care of itself.